A Binary Star is Born
She's in the Trunk of Requirements with her arms crossed on the table and her head pillowed on them, trying to think of more to prevent anything like Hei getting hit by that curse from happening again. She's been drawing something of a blank on anything but the boots she'd made to protect his legs down where his coat's protection doesn't extend and the hood she'd added to his coat just to be absolutely sure the back of his head was covered. She'd done testing with both the coat and mask back when she first made them of course and come to the conclusion that the mask's protection extended past it enough to cover his whole head, and as she'd concluded before on his coat’s protection extends up his neck to his throat, which also meant it obviously covered the back of his neck as well, but… Well, it never hurts to be extra thorough. Just to be safe.
She idly watches as the Trunk finishes infusing another large batch of Dragon Thunder Thread into silver, then straightens up quickly as an idea strikes like lightning. She immediately reaches for the parchment and ink the Trunk had provided and launches herself into working out the details.
He blinks rapidly in confusion at the chain bracelet with what looks like charms on it that Calanthe had sent via the mail pouches and the note that simply says, “Put it on and don't take it off Hei. Just desire it to be back to its normal size. I feel like it's something better to show with a bit of explanation than just explain it in detail. Just ask for the explanation after you do it.”
He tilts his head in baffled bemusement, “I guess I should just do it?”
Misaki nods in agreement so he unhooks the clasp and gets the chain wrapped around his wrist and gets it rehooked swiftly. After he does, he starts to focus on the desire for whatever it was she sent him to have the shrinking charm she'd clearly laid on to end. He doesn't actually get to focus though. The moment the intention, a genuine intention rather than a twitchy response similar to how summoning his knives works, crosses his mind, one of the little charms detaches and starts to grow even as it moves through the air. In the blink of an eye, to his utter astonishment, one of Calanthe's golems is standing before where he's sitting on the couch. Though this one seems slimmer and more compact. Not that the normal ones were bulky necessarily, not like the huge construct that usually comes to mind when one thinks ‘golem’ that towers over someone, hers were more akin to knights in full platemail in a way. This one though... Well, obviously, it was also metal, but to continue the analogy, if her normal ones were knights in full plate, this one's size was more akin to a scout in leather armor.
He blinks rapidly up at it, “What? Calanthe gave me golems?”
A voice emanates from the golem, “I was instructed to explain after being activated as seeing would explain a lot on its own. I am the golem commander of Master's personal backup squad.”
His brows furrow, “The kind of fighting I do is a bit different from her normal golems though. Yes, I get into head to head confrontations, but I also do an awful lot of sneaking around.”
The golem's head nods, “I am aware.” Then it disappears at the same time he feels a touch to the back of his neck, whirling to find it standing behind him, “Stealth is not a problem for this unit and its subordinates. As you may recall, Creator asked you for memories related to your skills, particularly your stealth and maneuverability such as use of your wires. She embedded them into us along with a copy of the Potter Physical Combat Trainer's knowledge so that we would be able to keep up and also not expose you if you had us called out for backup during stealth operations.”
He stares for a solid minute, and it's only when he goes to say something that he realizes his mouth had fallen open at some point, “Did you just teleport?”
The golem shakes its head, “Negative. I deployed an illusion while I activated the silencing function embedded into myself to mask my movement.”
Misaki, who is somewhat dumbfounded, makes a noise of confusion, “But I heard you speaking in front of us!”
Its head turns until the slits in its helmet, its ‘gaze’ in other words, is focused on her, “Creator's golems already must project the voice you hear. This is usually done in the vicinity of the helmet so as to not unnerve the masses we are meant to protect when they realize our voices are not coming from where their brains insist they should be given the humanoid shape we were given for both simplicity and approachability. I merely altered where the magic projecting my voice targeted. Ventriloquism, in simplistic if not entirely accurate terms.”
He shakes himself as he closes his mouth, realizing it was getting a bit dry, then pushes past his surprise, “A copy of the knowledge from the Combat Trainer? She didn't just hook you up to that magic network she made for the AI to access and distribute the knowledge of so she didn't have to copy it to every single one of you?”
The golem starts back around the couch, “We have had a connection to the main AI established, primarily so Master can request additional backup with haste if necessary, but so as to not become useless to Master if an enemy can block the connection, I have been made into a second AI to oversee the golems under my command and we have each individually had that knowledge embedded into us. Even if our connections between each other are disabled, it will only decrease our efficiency in operating as a group. The only other effect this would have is the possibility of Master having to use verbal commands if we are unable to predict his needs accurately.”
Misaki pushes her glasses up a bit from where they slid down her nose a little when she whirled to the back of the couch at the same time as he did, “Wouldn't he have to give verbal commands anyway?”
The golem turns its gaze to her, “Negative. While we are not privy to Master's innermost thoughts, we are connected to him via blood Creator requested and can pick up on intentions and desires regarding the squad(1), such as a desire for us to deal with a task while he is otherwise occupied. That is partially why you only needed the intention to restore me to my proper size to call for me, so as to cut back on the need for inefficient verbal communication. Master's bracelet is also embedded with health monitoring spells that will automatically call us if he's ever out of commission and unable to call us himself.”
He blinks rapidly as he takes that in, “But… Why?”
The golem turns back to him, “Creator said she made us due to you previously getting hit by a curse from an opponent you had downed, but did not have time to deal with as there were other enemies around which nearly ended up killing you.”
He jolts as he realizes Calanthe had made these in response to that whole… DNA destroying curse incident. Misaki buries her face in her hands and starts laughing, “And here we all thought she didn't have anything up her sleeve to counter that! But nope! She's just gonna make a whole host of golems with your skills.”
His lips twitch in amusement as he starts to see the humor of the situation, “Well, while I do have faith in Calanthe's crafting, I would like to run through some tests and drills before I start using it just to make sure there aren't any problems, but… yeah. Apparently Calanthe's response to me almost dying is to embed my skill, the skills that are often graded as one of, if not thebest assassin in the world into a bunch of golems. She basically multiplied how many ‘Black Reapers’ were in the world in a certain way of looking at it, didn't she?”
Misaki's too busy laughing to respond verbally, though she does try before giving up and just nodding.
He turns his gaze back to the golem as he rises from the couch, “Well, I suppose we may as well not waste time and get to that testing.”
The golem nods, “Creator assumed you would want to double check everything was working as it should with us, and even if it didn't occur to you, she asked me to pass along that you should just to be certain. We are ready whenever you are.”
He nods and gets up, heading off to the training room in the trunk Calanthe had sent him when they were separated that he left in his and Misaki's room. He can't help but grin a bit as he makes his way towards it. This? This was going to be fun.
She's technically already gotten it, but now she needs to be able to do it with ease. She can't afford to take a few minutes to get it done if she wants it to be combat ready.
It gathers again, a little faster than last time.
After she got far enough to be comfortable with sharing it, Remus had taken to watching over her practice when he had time, in case he could help at all. He hums thoughtfully, “You're getting much better at this.”
She pants as she looks up at the large Dragon made of Patronus fire, gathered down into a fully corporeal Patronus, “Yeah. It still takes longer than I'm comfortable with though.”
Remus shrugs lightly, “It just seems to be a matter of practice, so you just need to be patient.”
She tilts her head as she starts to catch her breath, “Still don't know why it's a Dragon. My normal Patronus is still a Panther, so why…”
Remus laughs lightly, “Honestly, for all that Hei is unbelievably dangerous to other people, he's always been a guardian for you. Protective, but not a threat to you. On the other hand, your Patronus fire construct is definitely combative in nature. And you… you have always fought for people, when necessary. I'm pretty sure it's meant to symbolize you.”
Her brows furrow, “I… guess that makes sense, given Hei's nickname for me. That's a bit… egotistical though.”
He laughs again, “After everything you've done? Not really.”
She looks away, still a bit embarrassed and very much disagreeing with him on it being a bit egotistical, but not sure what to say to that.
She shakes it off after a beat, dissipating her corporeal Patronus fire, “Well, regardless, I still need to get fast at it.”
Remus hums and watches as she picks up her practice again.
It wasn't good enough yet. She still needed to get better. Both at this and at combat in general, which is why she's been training practically every minute she could with one or the other.
She's settling down in the Three Broomsticks with her friends, both because they'd bullied her into taking a break from her constant training and plotting other ways to stonewall Tommy-boy's desired reign of terror and because it was getting close to summer, when she wouldn't see them as much.
She smiles as Rosmerta, ever warm and welcoming, comes over to their table with a big warm smile, “What can I get for you my dears?”
Without missing a beat, she fires back with a grin, “My tab when I'm done for one thing.”
Rosmerta laughs heartily, “No can do! That's not on the menu for you! Not after everything you've done!”
She shakes her head in bemusement as laughter rings out from people who'd clearly overheard it. If it wasn't Rosmerta refusing to hand over her portion of the bill, it was someone else in the Three Broomsticks paying it. She wouldn't even let her friends pick up her portion of the bill because she knew they'd let her pay them back.
Ron grins at her, “Honestly, I'd just give up if I was you. I don't think you'll ever get her to let you pay. And to be fair, she's not wrong. You've done so damn much to secure people's safety that I can't blame her for refusing to take your money. Especially since we're kinda here to celebrate your method of curing it getting rid of the last of the blood plague curse.”
She sighs in an exaggerated joking manner as she pouts at Rosmerta, “Look at what you've done! Turned my own friends against me!”
That gets more laughter and Rosmerta shakes a teasing finger at her, “Wouldn't have to have if you'd just accept things and not be so stubbornly noble!”
She shakes her head again, “Anyway, I'm not in the mood for anything specific, so I'll just take a butterbeer and whatever you've got as the daily special.”
Rosmerta beams, “You've got it darling!” Then she turns her gaze to Calanthe's friends, “And the rest of you?”
They put their orders in and Luna braces an elbow on the table and leans her chin on her palm as she grins, though she keeps her voice just loud enough to be heard over the noise but not enough to carry, “So! Looking forward to your seventeenth birthday this summer and the release of the block on Hei and Misaki? Gonna jump them immediately?”
She flushes a little in embarrassment, “I would never! If nothing else, they'll undoubtedly need a bit to get used to the change and process.”
The conversation pauses briefly as Rosmerta comes back with their drinks. After she's deposited them and they've thanked her, Daphne turns back to her and rolls her eyes, “Rosmerta isn't wrong that you're too noble. You've been pining and yearning for them for three years, but nope! Gotta take it slow! You know most people in your shoes wouldn't have the restraint to not go for it the moment the block was gone, you realize?”
She shakes her head, “That-”
She's cut off by a sound not dissimilar to a gong, except it's loud as all hell, more akin to a canon. She whips her head towards the window just in time to see golems start shifting from patrol mode to active defense as a voice rings out amongst them while temporary ward marbles are tossed at buildings, “Hostiles detected. Citizens are encouraged to retreat under temporary wards for their safety. Repeat, citizens are encouraged to retreat under temporary wards for their safety. These units cannot provide the same level of protection otherwise.”
She shoots to her feet and starts towards the door, but her arm is grabbed quickly. Turning she sees its Hermione, looking at her with wide eyes, “Calanthe, where are you going? Leave it to the golems! That's why you made them isn't it?”
She shakes her head, “I made the golems to protect people who can't protect themselves, but there's always a chance that things could go wrong. I need to be out there to help.”
She doesn't give her friend an opportunity to reply, just gently shakes her hand off and hurries out the door, slipping past the people hurrying inside. She immediately makes her way over to the closest golem, currently more on standby guarding the nearby buildings while other golems are dispatched to deal with the attackers. Without her tablet, she has no clue if it's a commander, since trying to slip in a subtle difference between them just opens the possibility of them being recognized if enemies pick up on it, but with all the golems linked into the network with the magical AI she created, she's more than capable of communicating with it with any of them, “Report.”
The golem turns its head to her, “Creator. A large group of the criminals from the terrorist organization known as Death Eaters has appeared. They are currently on the road between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, presumably to cut off retreat by those incapable of apparition.”
She purses her lips, “How did they even break through the wards without us being given advanced warning from the inevitable explosions of their spells hitting it as they tried to batter it down? Do we know, or is it something that will have to be figured out later?”
The golem tilts its head, “A resonance with the ward was detected just before it came down. How this was achieved or brought down the ward is currently unknown.”
She shakes her head, “It can wait until later I suppose. The people?”
“Barring some that were on the road here when they appeared, they have successfully relocated under the nearest temporary wards without injury.”
She nods, “Then just keep some golems around to fend off any that try to go around the main battle and head straight here for now, and only pull any of them away if reinforcements are required. I'm heading to the battle to get a better idea of things. Keep me updated.”
The golem nods, “Yes Creator.”
She heads off towards the road between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, and it isn't long at all before she comes across the battle. Voldemort himself was there, and both he and the Death Eaters seem rather pissed. Presumably at the fact that even though they brought down the wards, they didn't get to immediately go on one of their killing sprees and were immediately set upon by a hoard of golems.
A group of them was tied down protecting a cluster of about twenty students. She ignites her Patronus fire, covering herself in it for safety's sake and slinging some more out into a corridor, “This way!”
The students definitely don't need to be told twice and immediately rush down it towards her, a couple golems bringing up the rear of the group and swiftly escorting them back to town. She hangs back for now, mostly watching how things are playing out so as to not occupy some of the golems with trying to protect her, only interfering to help the golems when necessary.
It doesn't take long though, for Voldemort to notice she's there and apparate towards her, hissing out in rage, with maybe a tinge of mostly hidden fear if she's not wrong, whether its lingering from what happened in the graveyard or due to everything she was working on that's been revealed since, she doesn't know, “Calanthe Potter. I suppose, if nothing else, I have to acknowledge that you're… far more effective at stopping me then Dumbledore.”
She grinsviciously, “It's Lady Potter-Black. I would think that someone who holds blood purity in such high regard would at least know the manners that goes with it. As for my effectiveness… That I don't wait for you to do something before belatedly countering it? That I'm proactive in protecting people? That I act in a timely manner? That I'm not afraid to kill you scum when necessary? To which one are you referring?”
He twitches, eying her for a moment, “All of them, I suppose. Then again, given everything you've been revealing about Dumbledore lately, it's not that surprising that he was more interested in appearing in a good light to the masses than actually handling this war properly.”
She flicks a whip of Patronus fire behind her, incinerating the Death Eater that had slipped behind her. Voldemort's face twists with rage, and her smile widens, “Can't break them out of Azkaban if they're dead, can you? Then again, you can't break the ones who survive out of Azkaban these days either, isn't that right?”
While she knows the criminals on the levels that had actually been patrolled by the Dementors were the worst of the worst, the high security, it had still been somewhat of a bitter pill to swallow when Amelia had stopped fucking around with trying to pacify the rights groups protesting it and told them the truth. Dementors were drawn to negativity like moths to a flame, and with how indestructible they currently are, since no method of destroying them permanently has ever been discovered, Azkaban doubled just as much as a lure and trap for them as a prison for criminals. With how dangerous they are, it was the only method of trying to protect the masses from them that previous generations had been able to come up with. But with the way Voldemort had made deals with them, Azkaban had been abandoned for at minimum the duration of the war. Which also meant that Voldemort couldn't just turn it into basically a hotel for his Death Eaters until he picked them up later.
He snarls, “You may have slowed me down, but you will notwin.”
She shakes her head at him, “So you say, yet you haven't shown anything to back that bravado up.”
With another snarl, he starts firing curses at her. They aren't any she's familiar with, so just in case her Patronus fire can't handle any of them, she dodges as the fight breaks out, using her fire more as a backup in case she can't dodge something in time. Even as she does, she starts lashing out with tendrils of her fire. He throws some sort of shield up, but while it doesn't stop it entirely, it does slow it down considerably and eat away at how much fire she has even as it starts slowly breaking through it. She has no idea what spell it is, but given the way he looks dissatisfied at the results of them meeting, she can safely say he was hoping it would stop it dead.
She backs up her Patronus fire with curses, but it doesn't have a visible result against his shield. That doesn't necessarily mean they aren't helping weaken it quicker of course, but it's difficult to say. It isn't Black magic which she'd never touch, it's just emotionally driven, and she certainly wants him dead, so out of sheer curiosity, she fires a Killing Curse at him, wordlessly so as to not trigger the taboo, even if the AI would take the situation into account and not act against her. It wasn't even really a loophole, since to her knowledge, even Voldemort couldn't cast it silently.
It flares out and from the way it just straight up goes through his shield like it isn't even there, she has a suspicion that he'd made that shield spell as something of an opposite to the Patronus. Not something entirely opposite that practically invites negative influences in, but opposite in the way it's powered by negative emotions or something, specifically to counter her Patronus fire and the way it's fueled by positive emotions.
She wasn't sure if it was the fact she used it or that -being powered by negative emotions itself- it fazes right through his shield, but while one or both of them surprises the ever living hell out of him, it doesn't get him unfortunately, if only because he apparates out of the way of it before it can connect.
He glances over at the green light from the spell, eyes wide before he turns back to her, “...Didn't think you had something like that in you.”
She smiles meanly, “All it takes is a genuine desire to see the target dead. Why wouldn't I be able to cast it at you?”
Before he can say anything, a golem moves to her side and she tilts her head towards it, even though she doesn't remove her gaze from Voldemort, “Reporting. Three groups consisting of a total of 31 hostiles attacked Hogsmeade after a force was dispatched to deal with the group here. Currently assuming they wanted to take advantage of their being less golems in Hogsmeade. Hostiles have been successfully neutralized. No civilian casualties.”
Voldemort's eyes widen a fraction, then narrow as he glances around. Seeming to realize over three quarters of the people he had with him on the road have also fallen, he tsks and turns back to glare at her, “You may have won the battle, but as I said previously. You will not win the war.”
She smiles again, “I've won every battle so far. Generally that's kinda how wars are won? Or did no one ever teach you that?”
He snarls, but doesn't bother to respond, merely apparates away. Normally he wouldn't be able to do that given the golems also had marbles specifically for capturing criminals to keep them from escaping, but they only had so many, and with Voldemort himself there, he probably smashed through each of the temporary wards as they were deployed. An idea which the AI quickly confirms for her.
Shaking her head, she leaves the cleanup to the golems and starts back towards the village. She doesn't expect her to have kept working, given there was always a possibility they'd have to flee Hogsmeade itself if things went south, but she hopes Rosmerta would have her food done shortly. She's really hungry now.
To her delighted surprise, her food is already waiting for her under preservation charms when she re-enters the Three Broomsticks and goes over to the table.
It hadn't taken long to figure out how they'd pulled down the Patronus ward, between things they'd learned in Veritaserum questioning and finding the capsule and examining it.
Essentially, they'd hidden the capsule near the village and it had slowly tuned itself to the wards exact frequency, then collapsed it when it had. It wasn't that hard to fix. She'd just had to add a tweak to the wards that had them fluctuate their frequency every few seconds, but it was irritating, even if her golems had proven more than effective.
She sighs in irritation, but it quickly fizzles away as a grin takes over. Not that she really wants to be, but she honestly can't stay in a bad mood for long. She meant what she told her friends at the Three Broomsticks about giving it some time even after her birthday, but she was going back to Hei and Misaki and her seventeenth birthday was going to happen this summer. The fact that the block on soulmates disappeared then, something tied to the fact it was also when magical majority happened in magicals undoubtedly, it was globally the age of adulthood and consent as a side effect, so she wouldn't have to worry about it being inappropriate anymore after that. She wouldn't kiss them immediately, they'd probably need a bit to process the loss of the block if nothing else, but she could. And that? That was enough for her for now.
Also, she can't help but feel a bit excited, because she's currently wrapping up what will probably be the best present ever for Hei.
It's later at night, and Misaki should be home soon, and he definitely needs to start dinner shortly, when his attention is drawn and he looks up habitually when he hears Calanthe's light footsteps exiting her room, finding her looking at him with a grin on her face. She moves over to the couch he was sitting on and offers her hand, “Come on. There's somewhere we need to go.” He blinks, then puts the book he was reading down and accepts her hand up, but when he goes to let go, she tightens her hold on him, then answers the unasked question when he looks at her curiously, “We're apparating.”
He nods and braces himself for the vaguely nauseating feeling, then nods at her when he's ready, since he hasn't learned that yet. Without a word, Calanthe apparates them away. After the usual uncomfortable dark tunnel he's gotten a little used to from the occasional side along apparition, he finds himself in a derelict city.
Looking around, he quickly notices the street signs in Japanese and looks over at her in surprised curiosity, “Are- Are we in the Gate?”
She nods as she lets go, “Dead center of it actually. Wasn't easy to figure out how to get here with the way space gets warped around the Gate, but I managed using the magical scans I presented that showed that magic was preparing to make more Gates if the Syndicate destroyed this one.”
He tilts his head, “Why though?”
She glances up from where she's digging through her mokeskin pouch and pulling things out, “Couple reasons. One, we need to be here regardless, two, from my understanding of how this place works, I can probably talk to Bai here just by wanting to, and I need to ask her something before we get started.”
He sucks in a sharp breath at the idea of seeing his sister again for the first time in years, but he doesn't actually get to say anything before she appears, though she's sorta see through and not entirely physical, which is weird, but it's Bai, and she's here.
She blinks down at her own hands and tilts her head, “That feels a bit strange…” Then she shakes her head and looks up, with a smile, “Manners say I probably shouldn't be super familiar in how I speak to you, but after so many years of seeing you through Hei's eyes, I feel like we know each other well.”
Calanthe smiles back, “Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to get to know you the same as you have me, but that's fine. You're the sister of one of my soulmates after all. I don't mind if you act familiar with me.”
Bai's smile widens and she tilts her head, “So what did you need?”
Calanthe holds up three stacks of papers, one in one hand, two fanned away from each other in the other, “I've figured out how to unfuse you two.” He sucks in a breath and Bai's smile drops in astonishment as her eyes go wide, but Calanthe presses on, “There's three different methods to go about it though, and since it mostly affects you, I needed to ask you which one you wanted.”
Bai blinks rapidly, then with a slightly shaking voice, “Okay. What are they?”
Calanthe nods, “Option one, I just straight up separate you two back into individuals. Hei loses access to BK-201's powers and there's a slight possibility that it sort of… resets you, so to speak, back to when you first became a contractor and the progress you've made in regaining your emotions backslides to square one.”
Bai flinches at that, and he can't blame her. He hadn't really noticed the slow shift at the time, and what he did he put down to her just growing up, but he definitely had in retrospect and the thought of her going back to the emotionless machine she'd been at the beginning… Bai shakes her head, “I'd… definitely not like to do that one. Both because Hei really can't afford to lose any advantage with that war going on and because I… don't want to lose my emotions again.”
Calanthe nods and tucks the singular stack in one of her hands away, then takes one of the two in the other into her now empty hand, “Option two, I separate you out, but while I'm separating things, I separate you from the the contractor power of BK-201 and leave it behind in Hei. He becomes BK-201 entirely and subsequently goes through the loss of emotions that a contractor experiences when they first become a contractor, but you get to go back to being a perfectly normal person. Well, not back to how you were before entirely since you'd still be a magical in the form of a witch, but back to how you were previously in every other respect beyond maturity since it wouldn't deage you, either physically or mentally.”
Bai outright recoils from that one, and he honestly can't blame her for that one either. The idea of losing his emotions… it honestly sickens him a bit, not because he's disgusted by contractors, but because he has so much to lose now. Bai shakes her head frantically, “No. Definitely not.” Calanthe smiles as she tucks that one away, and Bai squints at her suspiciously, “You were just being a little shit and saving the best for last weren't you? The one you always intended to use.”
Calanthe laughs lightly, “Well, I wasn't kidding when I said you definitely had a choice to make, because Hei is learning magic fairly quickly, and even before he gained either your power or magic he was already capable of fighting people with powers, so it probably wouldn't been that big of a deal if you'd chosen option one, and I would respect it. That being said, option three is the best option in my opinion.”
Bai relaxes slightly, “So what is it?”
Calanthe hums, “Do you know what a binary star is?”
Bai blinks, “Two stars orbiting each other? What's that got to do with anything?”
Calanthe smiles, “Because for option three, BK-201 basically splits into a binary star. A contractor power is essentially a deal people unknowingly strike with magic itself, not entirely for their emotions as is believed, but for the ease and potential intensity of them, but that throws off the brain enough that it takes some time to get used to it, which presents as no emotions while you're in flux. You two essentially strike a new deal with magic. You trade being the sole holder of BK-201's powers to get more of your emotions back. Hei trades off his capacity for feeling some emotions for the other half of BK-201 you're offering. Couple other advantages beyond the obvious of both of you having access to the power of BK-201."
"For one, since it's a conscious deal this time, you'd get to pick and choose what emotions you get back if you want to focus on any in particular instead of a generalized return or which ones Hei is giving up to focus those and not touch others. And he can chose to offer ones he doesn't even use, like jealousy and the like since he's not much one for feeling things like that anyway, but Magic doesn't care if you use something you're offering to trade in something like this, just that you could and you're giving up that possibility of using it. For another, while I'm not totally certain since something like this hasn't exactly happened before, I'm pretty sure that it would lessen the overall price for the power. Both in the emotional sense, and also for the obeisance. I'm also pretty sure the bond would let you pay the obeisance for each other, but again, I can't be entirely certain.”
He looks over at Bai with wide eyes. He hates that she's a contractor and what it means for her but is also terrified of losing his emotions, and he can similarly see a similarly torn notion of the ideas fighting in her. But it was behind a rather hopeful look of what the third option could possibly do. One he understands all too well, seeing as he feels it himself.
They speak at the exact same time, “Three.” He turns to Calanthe, as he continues alone, “We'll go with option three.”
She smiles at him, and hands him the papers as she starts digging into her mokeskin pouch and pulling out supplies even as she uses magic to clean a sizable area and repair and smooth out the ground. Bai tilts her head, “We're doing it here?”
Calanthe nods, “Yeah, it's the other reason I brought you two here. Regardless of which you picked, the ritual has to happen here, at a Gate.”
Then she starts guiding the chalk magically as she moves around with it, carefully marking out the ritual circle. As she goes, she leaves some supplies around various points. He doesn't know what any of them are, but the process is actually somewhat fascinating to watch. He's gotten gifts from Calanthe for years, crafted with runes and rituals, but this is the first time he's actually seen her in action.
When she's done, she slowly circles it as she scrutinizes it for any mistakes. Twice. Only then does she wave them over towards the center as she makes her way to it carefully herself.
When they're all standing in the circle, she hands Hei a piece of parchment he recognizes as his identification potion results, a newer one he took after that whole DNA curse destroying fiasco, just to essentially update what Calanthe has on file for him, since that had definitely driven home how important they could be. Not even just for himself either, given the murmurs he's heard about a sudden sharp increase in using it even for people who already know what sort of inheritance they have, given that while he was the only known case in the UK he was far from the only one worldwide. He's even heard mutters of it becoming standard for hospitals to have one on record for people. He and Calanthe hadn't been sure if there was anything new compared to his old result, but given she had taught his body how to fight that curse off and his power had increased in the time since, they had decided to update it just in case.
He accepts it, and Calanthe instructs him, “I know she's not really physical right now, but you and Bai need to have it between yourselves with Bai holding it as much as she can in her current state, since it's also technically Bai's results, and I want to be sure that the ritual has the information if it needs it.”
They do as she told them, but he chews on his bottom lip, “How… How do we make it clear what we want to trade? Because I'd rather focus it on specific things.”
She smiles at him reassuringly, “Just keep what you want to trade as firmly in mind as you can. But don't worry about your mind drifting to things you absolutely don't want to trade. The magic will pick up on it and treat those as absolutely off the table.”
He relaxes and Calanthe gives one last glance around, one last check to make sure everything is in place, then she begins.
It's the strangest thing ever. He doesn't know exactly how to describe it beyond saying it's like his body is suddenly trying to be in two places at once and pulling in either direction. One trying to stay where he's standing, one pulling towards where Bai was. It's not painful, thankfully, but it's not exactly a comfortable feeling either. Beyond that, other than Calanthe, who seems to be in a trance as she chants, or maybe hisses in Parseltongue, he can't quite tell with how quiet her voice is, he's not really aware of anything else. For one thing, there's a whirlwind of energy, of magic, around him. For another there is electricity arcing everywhere, like he's caught in the middle of one of those plasma globes, but cranked up to a ridiculous degree. It's almost blindingly bright, and even before he squeezes his eyes closed on reflex of the bright light, it's so bright around him that the world beyond is plunged into pitch black he can't make out due to the light difference and his eyes suddenly being more adjusted to his significantly brighter immediate surroundings in the ritual circle.
He's not sure how long he stands there, body almost feeling like a glitching staticy video looks when suddenly there's something like a snapping feeling and he's stumbling back, not having realized he'd started leaning back and pulling against the draw until it suddenly releases him and the abrupt loss of the resistance causes him to destabilize on his feet.
The parchment in his hand comes with him, sorta, but it also… seems to slide against another? There's no ripping noise, but there suddenly seems to be two pieces stacked on top of each other, and the upper piece of parchment goes with him while the bottom one slides against it and out of his hand. He blinks his eyes open and the spots dancing over his vision away and just like that, without warning he's gazing at a suddenly much more solid looking Bai, holding the second piece of parchment that came out of nowhere. She's staring at him with wide eyes and cautiously, hopefully, slowly reaches up and pokes him in the shoulder. Her eyes tear up when she makes physical contact, and he certainly can't blameher, given his own breath hitched and his arms shoot out and yank her to his chest in what's probably a too tight hug.
For the first time in years, his sister is physically with him, rather than fused into him. He buries his face into her hair, even as she clutches at him and buries her own into his shoulder, which is slowly starting to get wet as she shakes with silent tears.
It's difficult to think past the fact that Bai is here, physically present, and unfused from him. Some distant part of his brain numbly points out that he's going to have to make more food than usual, and he can't help the slightly hysterical laugh that bubbles out in response.
Bai pulls away a bit to give him a shaky watery grin, “What are you laughing at?”
He shakes his head, “Just some dumb part of my brain deciding to point out that I'm gonna have to make more food than usual for dinner.”
Bai lets out a shaky laugh of her own, and movement causes him to turn to see Calanthe approaching, shaking her head with one of the biggest grins he's ever seen, “Why am I not surprised that's the first place your brain went you glutton?”
He laughs, but can't think of anything to say back, so he just shakes his head. Calanthe does as well after a beat then holds her hands out to them, “Come on. Let's go home.” Then her grin takes on a hint of mischief, “We've got the surprise of her life to give Misaki when she gets home after all!”
He laughs again as he takes one hand, Bai taking the other even as they refuse to let go of each other just yet. They'll have to soon though. He really does need to get started on dinner soon, and it needs to be one of the best he's ever made to celebrate Bai being her own person again, and even regaining some of her emotions in the process.
Bai throws the door open dramatically, then closes it sharply and tosses herself onto her bed.
Calanthe blinks at her rapidly in surprise, “Did you need something?”
Bai props her head up on her hands, “A timeline on how long I've got before I need to get my own place would be nice.”
She tilts her head in confusion, “What? But you're… more than welcome to stay here?”
Bai nods, “Yeah, I know. But while it's fine when it's just Hei and Misaki being a couple, it'll get weird and awkward and I'll absolutely become the proverbial third wheel, even if the numbers don't match up, when the block drops. Because Hei and Misaki may not have noticed, but I didn't have a whole lot to do when I was fused with Hei but think over the things I did see when I wasn't purposely not looking because there are some things I don't want to see about my brothers life, even if I'm absolutely happy for him and his relationship with Misaki. Point is, they may not have noticed, but I have. You're totally head over heels for them, which means it's a romantic bond, which means that with your seventeenth birthday coming up, it's not going to be too much longer before I'm rooming with my brother and his girlfriends instead of my brother, his girlfriend, and their minor soulmate of an ‘unknown’ bond type. I love my brother to pieces, I do, but… no thank you…” She squints at her, “Especially since after three years of waiting for the block to disappear, I can't imagine it'll take long for you to end up in their bed.”
She blushes, “That's not entirely true. If nothing else, they'll undoubtedly need time to process the change of the block dropping, so it's not like I intend to jump them as soon as the block is gone.”
That just makes Bai squint at her even more, “...Your friends aren't wrong about you being too noble sometimes, you know that? No one could really blame you if you did, given how patient you've been.”
She shakes her head, then coughs into her fist and shifts the subject a little, “Did you want me to buy you an apartment nearby? Maybe even in the building if I can find one? It'd let you and Hei stay close but give you your own space.”
Bai stops squinting at her and blinks in surprise, “I didn't mean that you have to-”
She shakes her head again, “I know, but you didjust unfuse from Hei. You'll undoubtedly need a little time to get your life back. Besides, I do have a romantic bond with yourbrother which means that unless something happens that causes our relationship to fall apart or something, you are going to be my sister-in-law eventually and it's not like I don't have the money to easily afford it. It'd let you get your life back without having to rush things, while also let you be close to Hei while still having separate spaces.”
Bai looks up thoughtfully, “Well… you aren't wrong about any of those… so yeah, if you're okay with it then sure.”
She smiles at Bai, “Alright then, did you want to start looking for housing nearby for sale with me, or just have me handle it while you focus on other parts of getting things in order now that you're unfused?”
Bai smiles warmly, “I appreciate you being willing to do it yourself, but if nothing else, since you're already paying for it, I should be part of the process.” She glances down, then back up, as her smile turns a bit shy, “Besides, we could also start getting to know each other more properly while shopping around.”
She nods with a smile of her own, “Okay.” Then she sets her book down and gets up, “May as well start now. I'm not doing anything at the moment and there's no reason to procrastinate.”
Bai laughs as she gets up, “No, it really isn't your style to put things off, is it?”
She laughs back, “It isn't my style, no.”
She and Bai quickly settle down with her laptop at the kitchen table and start looking for housing nearby, chatting idly with each other as they do.
He's watching the frying pan intently. It was Calanthe's birthday today, and more than that, her seventeenth birthday. That was even more important to magicals then it was to non-magicals, since it wasn't just the age of adulthood. It was also when the magical majority happened.
Because of that, he was bound and determined to make her favorite food and make it perfectly. Well, more determined than usual anyway. He's always low-key determined to make both of his girls great food, and that always ramps up on their birthdays. He has to admit he's a little sad that Bai moved out, even if it was just to another apartment in the building, but he can't exactly… argue with the fact it was just because she felt like something of a third wheel. The fact she can feel like that is still phenomenal to him, but one can't exactly argue against how someone feels in a situation like this, and he respects her desire to stay close-by to one another but have more privacy.
Also, he honestly can't feel too bad, because she and Calanthe had apparently bonded a bit while browsing around. After, they'd taken him and Misaki out with them when they went shopping for furniture, and later for more than a couple pairs of clothes she'd borrowed from Misaki. While there was that stereotype of guys hating shopping with women, he honestly didn't mind much, especially since it was another opportunity to spend time with his sister after years without her, and he was delighted to watch her bonding with Calanthe and Misaki some more during it. He was genuinely ecstatic to see his sister not only utilizing the emotions she'd regained, which alone seemed to delight her, but also creating good relationships with his soulmates.
Which, on the topic of them, Bai had told him that she and Amber had known they were, and had similarly come to the conclusion between them that it was platonic as he had. She was sad and a bit torn at how Amber was nowadays, but even she agreed she was way out of line with everything Calanthe had dug up and presented and the revelations it had made clear. That the situation had changed compared to when she had helped her get the Heaven's Gate out of anyone's hands, and it has been made abundantly clear to everyone that trying shit with it was more of a mutually assured destruction situation. She'd straight up admitted that she didn't know if she'd have the heart to call the cops on her if she showed up, given as wrong as she was, Amber did think she was just preventing a possible genocide against every contractor and doll in the world, but she'd assured them that she wouldn't help her again like she had with the Heaven's Gate if she came to ask.
He's drawn from his thoughts by Misaki making a choking noise behind him, but before he can turn to ask, he feels arms slip around him in a hug as someone leans against his back, as Calanthe's voice, coming from directly behind him making it clear it was her hugging him, murmurs a sleepy, “Good morning.”
Misaki's voice sounds a bit strained, “Good morning Calanthe! Happy birthday!”
He feels confusion, wondering what's going on with her, even as he replies to Calanthe, “Good morning. Happy birthday, Xiǎolóng.”
She squeezes him a bit, which presses her more firmly against him, and his brain whites out. He feels a distant sense of confusion as to what's happening. Because he's suddenly very, very aware of Calanthe's breasts pressing firmly against his back. Calanthe's… very nice feeling breasts…
He's so confused and reeling from it, that he almost misses Calanthe's sleepy reply, “Thank you.”
She reaches over off to his side to grab the cup of tea he'd prepared a bit ago for her when she wakes up, having expected her to get out of bed soon, then steps away as she sips at it, given the noise.
He looks over his shoulder in bafflement as to what is going on, only for his brain to short circuit… again… when he lays eyes on her. Calanthe had always been an adorable kid, but when… when had she become so attractive? Scratch attractive, even sleep mused with sleepy eyes, messy hair, and a casual and equally messy t-shirt and sweatpants, she was drop dead gorgeous. He doesn't know how she pulls off being so gorgeous looking like that, like she just rolled out of bed, which she probably had, but she does.
Far more importantly though, when had Calanthe become hot?!
He swears she was just an adorable kid just last night! What the hell happened overnight?!
Seeming a bit more awake after a bit more of her tea, Calanthe looks over and tilts her head, “The food? It'll burn at that rate.” He quickly turns back around, but thankfully, it hasn't even started to burn just yet. Calanthe hums, “What's up with you anyway? It's not like you to forget in general, and not about food of all things.”
He flounders for a moment for a response, “Just… Just got lost in thought for a little bit, that's all…”
She laughs, “I'm surprised that there's any non-critical thought capable of disturbing you from food you glutton.”
He peeks back spotting Misaki, hand mostly in front of her mouth, but not quite covering some left over liquid, presumably her coffee which she seems to have spilled on herself a little from the splash on her previously clean shirt, nor does it fully hide her slightly strained smile, “That's very true in general, but food isn't that high on the list for our glutton, it's not that surprising for there to be something capable of distracting him.”
He wants to thank Misaki so damn much for helping cover him, but he can't exactly say that without tipping Calanthe off, so he just does his best to thank her wordlessly with a look when Calanthe turns away. She seems to pick up on it thankfully, and gives a small jerky nod back. Calanthe doesn't notice either as she heads towards her room, “Speak for yourself. I'm plenty surprised that something distracted him so thoroughly as to make him forget food for a little while. Anyway, I'm going to go get properly dressed and all that. Be back soon!”
Misaki makes a noise of understanding as she turns to follow her with her gaze, and he calls out, voice feeling faint and distant, “Okay. Don't take too long, breakfast should be done soon…”
Calanthe lifts a hand above her shoulder in acknowledgment as she enters her room and closes the door. As soon as it's fully closed, Misaki whips back towards him and leans forward to hiss quietly enough that her voice shouldn't reach Calanthe, “What the hell was that?! Since when is Calanthe so- so-!”
He shakes his head somewhat frantically, hissing back, “Hell if I know! She was just an adorable kid last night, what the hell happened?! It can't just be the soulmates bond, that doesn't force anything between soulmates!”
Misaki presses the bottom of her palm to the skin between her eyebrows as she leans forward, staring down with wide eyes, “I know!”
Silence descends as they both try to figure out what the hell happened.